iStockAnalyst: In the current economic environment, banks should carefully analyze the current and future total cost of ownership of their technology assets, and evaluate the outsourcing alternative. With a widespread lack of capital for costly upfront investments, renting ATM hardware and associated services becomes an attractive, and in some cases the only feasible, option to struggling banks. IT outsourcing services are already prevalent within many business functions. Overall ATM management goes well beyond the simple purchase/renting of hardware and the maintenance involved. The area also includes management of hardware installation, cash handling, communication, occupancy, and processing. A worldwide survey of 200 IT decision makers within retail banks conducted by Datamonitor in the fourth quarter of 2008 shows that cost-cutting is the most important objective driving banks' IT strategy in 2009.
